When the world hands you lemons... make Pink Lemonade Cupcakes...

I've been a bit MIA during the last 2 weeks and 3 days. Truth be told, I've been in a funk and I was simply not motivated to create an entry. Frankly, I'm still in a bit of a funk, but it seems that jumping back into something, like my blog, may help progress me back into a "non-funk" space.

I won't go into any specific reasons as to what has placed me in a funk as it is really just a compilation of different things that have started to wear thin. Several of these "things" came clearly into focus over the span of time since my last visit here, but again, why bore anyone with them. In time, each will be dealt with one way or the other. It simply is what it is.

On a more positive note, we were fortunate to have our wonderful friends Denise and her boy friend Luke visit us twice in the last few weeks. We've been friends with Denise for several years and she and Luke have been together for close to 2. We always have a great time together highlighted by much laughter, summery cocktails, fantastic food.

On a weird whim, I was hit with the craving for cupcakes, particularly pink lemonade cupcakes. I must have run across them in either a magazine or online. The idea of them shone in my mind like a beacon. Oddly enough, I have never had one before, but the idea of them made my mouth water. The craving turned into a full blown desire so I decided as I was driving up from N.J. that I would make a batch of these cupcakes for the weekend of Denise and Luke's visit.

Since I couldn't remember where I had been introduced to the initial idea of the pink lemonade cupcake, I hit the web and typed the term into google. I went with the first return at the top of the list where I found this little treasure.

Already I could feel my craving being satisfied as I read with glee about the confection. I decided that this was the recipe that I would go with. And go with it I did. The only thing that I did differently was to use whole eggs rather than egg whites and I added a bit more oil ( more like the amount on the box - minus a bit). Also, I simply added red food coloring to a can of white frosting.

I also had only purchased enough pink lemonade concentrate for one batch of cupcakes, so I had to improvise as to what flavoring I could use for the second batch. I opened the liquor cabinet and spied a bottle of Baileys Mint Chocolate Liquor. That was it. I decided to add yellow food coloring to the frosting for the BMCL cupcakes.

In any event, when the baking, frosting and decorating (star sprinkles, fresh raspberries and black cherries) was through, the results were quite lovely.



The Pink Lemonade were my favorites, though Denise loved the Baileys. George and Luke were fans of both, though George has now hinted at the possibility of me making a Pink Lemonade Cake. This, I must admit, is an idea that truly does intrigue me...